It would be difficult to find anyone more popular on the Colorado classical scene than Peter Oundjian.
When the multi-faceted musician was named principal conductor of the Colorado Symphony last year, loyal fans of the ensemble, who knew him from many guest spots on the podium over the years, were elated.
So were the musicians who recognize Oundjian — who first gained fame as a world-class violinist before transitioning to conducting — as one of their own. He has a reputation as a leader who not only respects the masterpieces of great composers past but also the people who play their work in the present.
Oundjian has also developed a fan base during his five years serving as music director of the Colorado Music Festival, the annual six-week event that has taken place at Boulder’s Chautauqua Auditorium for more than four decades. The 2023 edition kicks off on June 29.
CMF does not always get the attention it deserves. That is odd, considering its consistent programming of well-chosen music, both contemporary and traditional, and the respected players it brings to the region each season.
This year, that will include violinist Joshua Bell as artist-in-residence, and Pulitzer Prize-winning John Corigliano, as composer-in-residence. The fest is touting 85-year-old Corigliano as a “living legend” on its programs, and many lovers of artful, new music would agree.
But the classical music scene is crowded in Colorado during the summer, and so CMF can fall under the shadow of the bigger Bravo! Vail Music Festival, which each year imports superstar ensembles like the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Dallas Symphony Orchestra, for extended residencies.
There is also the Aspen Music Festival, maybe the most highly regarded warm-weather fest in the country, which combines a list of big-name soloists and conductors performing major orchestral pieces, along with dozens of solo and small ensemble concerts, all powered by the talented students who attend its professional development school.
Oundjian points out that each fest has a distinct profile, and CMF stands out.
“Aspen is an amazing school of music as well as being a festival. But that’s kind of the essence of the Aspen Music Festival — that it is a fantastic school,” he said, summing up that operation.
“And the essence of Vail is that it’s a beautiful festival that invites people from across the country or wherever they come from. They’re kind of a presenting organization.”
CMF’s advantage is that is more like a performing arts organization, which produces its programming with a regular set of musicians.
“The difference here is that we have our own resident orchestra, which is a kind of a national orchestra that resides in Boulder in the summertime,” he said.
An in-house orchestra is rare for an operation that sets up shop for such a short period each year. The musicians come from more than 20 top orchestras across the continent for the annual summer gig in Boulder — drawn, in part, by the opportunity for plentiful mountain excursions during off hours.
CMF is also different because of its location. Boulder is not such a far drive for people who live on the Front Range — its concerts are less of a destination, more of an evening out — and it takes place in a historic venue.
With 1,300 seats, Chautauqua Auditorium is less than half the size of Boettcher Concert Hall, where the Colorado Symphony headquarters itself, and that allows musicians to connect on an intimate level. Performers like Oundjian, who have a natural bond with audiences, can make the most of it.
So can soloists like Joshua Bell, who Oundjian will bring in for four concerts this summer. The pair have known each other since Bell was 14 and have an ear for what works in this space.
Bell opens the season on June 29 and 30, joining the orchestra for a program that features Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, along with Mussorgsky’s eternally popular “Pictures at an Exhibition.”
Bell closes the festivities, too, with a pair of concerts on Aug. 3 and 6. Both concerts will feature different sections of “The Elements,” a work for violin and orchestra that Bell commissioned himself from five different composers. They are, notably, Jake Heggie, Jessie Montgomery, Edgar Meyer, Jennifer Higdon and Kevin Puts.
The composer-in-residence, Corigliano, will be part of a July 13 program that features three of his compositions from different eras of his distinguished career. Audiences will most likely want to hear “One Sweet Morning,” his 2010 piece for voice and orchestra, which commemorates the 9/11 tragedy. Mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor will supply the voice.
The sessions also feature guest appearances by violinist Grace Park, cellist Johannes Moser, pianist Tony Siqi Yun, the JACK Quartet, and guest conductors Michael Christie, Hannu Lintu and Eun Sun Kim.
One potential highlight is the July 16 premiere of a new symphony that employs the orchestra, along with a narrator and soprano, titled “JFK: The Last Speech.” The work is based on a speech the late president gave in honor of poet Robert Frost. CMF commissioned the work from composer Adolphus Hailstork, and it will appear on a program that also features the premieres of two other commissioned works, one by Jordan Holloway and another by CU Boulder professor Carter Pann.
It all comes together into a something-for-everyone season, and that is the kind of mix that makes Oundjian so popular here.
“We definitely like to program an eclectic set of pieces that give people something that would interest them no matter what they love,” said Oundjian. “I hope people smile, laugh, cry, everything when they come to the festival.”
IF YOU GO
The Colorado Music Festival runs June 29-Aug. 6. More info: 303-440-7666 or coloradomusicfestival.org.
